Sunday, 31 August 2014

I have two new Harrison Peel books out now at Amazon (Kindle) and Smashwords (ePub).

The Elder Codex (Book 3)

Harrison Peel’s third collection of adventures features two novellas set against the backdrop of war torn Africa:

The Elder Codex — When ripples in the fabric of space-time warp reality in Somilia, Peel investigates, and retraces his past in the ruins of devastated land.

The Spiraling Worm (with John Sunseri) — A missing US soldier resurfaces in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, mutilated and deformed, and commanding an army of cultists soldiers on a war path against Peel and a small contingent of special forces soldiers.

The Infinity Agenda (Book 4)

The fourth collection features two short stories and one novella set against the backdrop of the War on Terror, the Space Program and radio astronomy.

The Road to Afghanistan — Peel contacts an assassin embroiled in a conspiracy festering at the very heart of the Pentagon, one involving alien creatures pulled from another dimension and released into Taliban controlled territory.

War Gods of Men (with David Kernot) — in Afghanistan a new super-weapon is decimating soldiers on the battlefronts, so Peel teams up with cyber-analyst Sergeant Emerson Ash and leads a search and destroy mission inside the enemy heartland.

The Eye of Infinity — an astrophysicist is found dead at a radio telescope facility in New Mexico with a condition called multiple eye syndrome, and Peel’s investigation leads him to NASA and a conspiracy at the heart of the very universe itself.

See the Harrison Peel page for details where these books can be purchased. If you want a review copy, please email me.

Monday, 2 June 2014

I’m appearing in a new anthology out later in the year, Tides of Possibility, formulated from the idea that the rise of the indie author is upon us, that many of those authors write science fiction. This is an anthology to celebrate the success of the new form of 21st Century SF writer, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

A science fiction anthology from the rising stars of indie-publishing in Texas and beyond, edited by K.J. Russell with cover art by David Sidebotham.

This is a description of my story: “Downsizing in the Technopoly”, is an intimate look at the tragedy inflicted on one man's life when the coming of generous extra-terrestrials upends the global economy of the planet Jharkhand. One of millions suddenly unemployed, Yusuf McCredie finds no comfort in the utopian technologies meant to uplift his species. He is a corporate man, and if he cannot manage others, how can he be happy? The only intellect that understands his plight — an extra-terrestrial being calling itself a Skin Hitcher — has a proposition for him: "You want to become the biomass/intellect contribution to my micro-farm/eco-genesis?"Here is a list of many of the authors and stories I’ll be appearing along side in the anthology:

“The Color of Silence” by Mandy Broughton, a terminally ill woman sends her best friend-nanny-android on a mission to answer a question to heal her of her sickness.

“Part of a Whole” by Carolina Dolislager, is about life in the Society, a far-future setting where people follow step-by-step instructions to wake up, eat breakfast, and go to work.

“House of Tin” by L. Fabry, presents a world where a new law, Ordinance 93, can render unapproved pregnancies illegal.

“Reaction” by Kelly Horn, in a space station in the far future a servant of the elite class knows things she shouldn't, like how to read and think.

“The Black Prince” by Erin M Kennemer, shows us a future in which there are no stars in the sky above Earth, and people don’t think that's strange.

“The Woman Who Wanted to Play Miss Havisham” by Haralambi Markov, the bankrupt nation of Bulgaria has been purchased in its entirety by Britain, and is being renovated into the largest stage in history.

“The Commitment” by E.L. Russel, is about an aging woman who is struggling to manage her husband's degenerating health.

“A Perfectly Stable Dataglobule” by K.J. Russell, where the meaty brains of fighter pilots are having their dreams crafted artificially by external forces.

“Imperfection” by Jay Wilburn, presents a post-cataclysm world wherein organic people don't last very long.

“The Reader” by D.L. Young, portrays the deadly negotiations for control of the natgas fields in Texas.

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

The sheer variety of exoplanets is making us rethink science fiction. The variety of alien terrains that heroic space adventurers will now be subjected to is likely to be more bizarre than anything we’ve yet encountered, or at least that is what David Kernot and I think.

Therefore, in celebration of the recent release of our book Extreme Planets, the first anthology of exoplanet tales featuring carbon planets, water worlds, super-Earths and lava planets, we would like to draw your attention to eight classic SF novels that feature some of the strange worlds ever imagined.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

I've recently appeared in "The Eldritch Force" A Cthulhu Mythos Round Robin with Peter Rawlik, Glynn Owen Barrass, Brian M. Sammons, Bruce L. Priddy, Robert M. Price, Rick Lai and myself. This one features superheros in a Post World War Two setting.

This is my second publication with Lovecraft eZine, and I'm proud to have teamed up with such a talented bunch of authors.

I’ve recently been involved in a Indiegogo sponsorship campaign for a new anthology I’m appearing in:

World War Cthulhu

A Collection of Lovecraftian War Stories to the forefront with 19 war stories rooted deep in the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Wars and battlefields written by top names in the industry like John Shirley, Tim Curran, W.H. Pugmire, William Meikle, Cody Goodfellow, Jeffrey Thomas, David Kernot, Konstantine Paradias, C.J. Henderson, Peter Rawlik and many more featuring original illustrations by artist M. Wayne Miller, front cover artwork by award-winning artist Vincent Chong and edited by Brian M. Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass.

“The Bullet and the Flesh” by David Conyers and David Kernot

My contribution is modern day tale of horrors perpetrated by man against man. The use of child soldiers in Zimbabwe are not the worst things to be encountered as lives are given less worth than shiny baubles from the earth. Evil men mess with things unpredictable, and brave men such as Major Harrison Peel (from Cthulhu Unbound 3) are forced to fight for justice and balance.
Here is my promo video, to learn more:

Sunday, 9 March 2014

Extreme Planets is now out, and available from Amazon. Gardner Dozois says of the book in Locus, "The anthology does contain a lot of solid, entertaining, core SF"

Here is an extract from David Kernot and my contribution to the anthology, "Petrochemical Skies" set on a carbon planet.

Petrochemical Skies

David Conyers and David Kernot

Jenna Seno rechecked her astrogation calculations for the fifteenth time. The numbers came out the same and still she didn’t like them. She rolled her shoulders to relieve the tension in her back. It would be a long shift.

Despite her lack of practical experience, Jenna knew the info-courier, Banshee Stalker, could make the next hyperspacial jump but only if she used the gravitation field from the Iyangura class star system properly. From twelve light-years out, slingshotting them thirty-two light-years across the void to Hadrian Secondus was a risky move and a stark contrast to the slow three light-year-per-day pace through ‘safer’ space routes.

“Well, Seno?” Crandon ‘Towers’ Kerman, the Banshee’s captain, cracked his knuckles like he didn't have a care.

Jenna swallowed to free her tight throat. She didn’t know what he wanted her to say.

“Are you ready? Or do I need to baby-step you through your calculations again?”

Like her, Towers was strapped into an acceleration couch on the ship’s bridge, ready for any unexpected forces the jump might generate when they transitioned space-time points. He didn't seem bothered by the risky slingshot trajectory.

He wasn't being fair, but she pushed her inexperience aside. “Captain, if I make a mistake we’ll end up in the heart of the system’s star.”

He sneered. “Would you rather we took the long route, through deep space?”

“No, captain.”

“Want to lose six days and an expensive amount of energy generating our own slingshots? Our competitors will beat us to our client.”

Jenna closed her eyes. She wanted to scream. She hated that he was having fun with her.

One nagging thought compelled her not to agree with Towers; they could all die. She gathered courage and voiced her concern, “Captain, it _is_ safer to open a wormhole in a near absolute vacuum, deep into the void.”

He laughed. “Even near stars, Seno, there’s a vacuum.”

“I guess… I suppose——”

“Make the jump.”

She couldn’t be sure of her calculations, not yet, she only needed another minute. “What if we collided with any planets in Iyangura 281A?" A collision would be fatal. She wanted to mention the radial velocities if they came out of hyperspace too close to a planet.

“The Stalker’s hyperdrive automatically compensates for that.”

“But——”

“I said jump!”

Without waiting, Towers punched his authority codes into the bridge’s console, transferred her coordinates to the ship’s semi-AI via his biometrics.

Towers! Damn him! The man was a reckless fool.

They lurched.

Invisible forces pinned Jenna into her acceleration couch.

Anti-matter engines burned a point into the vacuum the size of an atom, until a massive gravitation singularity expanded from space-time and formed a wormhole. The _Banshee Stalker_ slipped into it and shifted: everything moved, like a bug swimming in a jug of water poured into a bigger jug, and then into an even bigger jug…

They fell, and Jenna tensed every muscle, closed her eyes from the vertigo. They accelerated away under high-g maneuvers toward who knew where. A vacuum hopefully but close enough to Iyangura 281A to appease Towers.

The wormhole opened on the opposite mouth and pulled the _Stalker_ through before it collapsed.

The other side greeted with a noise like hail on a roof. Ship sensors highlighted the hull bombardment exceeded ten thousands rock pellets. Their craft decelerated rapidly, and Jenna opened her eyes. On the bridge, virtual skin schematics lit the outside scene. They weren’t in a vacuum but conversely they didn’t fall into the million-degree heart of a sun. Visuals displayed a planet.

Debris shot skyward, a mix of giant boulders and fine dust flung outwards. Smaller rocks peppered them like machinegun fire. The visual displays showed the wormhole opening had pulverized a mountain-sized mass on the surface.

The Stalker spiraled downwards into the kilometer-wide crater, which sparkled like a diamond. Jenna closed her eyes again and contained another scream, hoped their disintegration would be instantaneous and painless.

Saturday, 28 December 2013

2013 was an interesting year for me on the writing front, mostly because I followed the lead of Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Hugh Howey, and tried self-publishing through Amazon and Smashwords with far greater success than I could have imagined when I first set out.

Despite the naysayers of the established pros and the fear self-publishing is generating in the world today, I think it is a great opportunity for writers, offering more than one path to success in the industry. I've been able to release collections of my science fiction, weird fiction and reboot my Harrison Peel spies versus the Cthulhu Mythos series, as well as working with various authors to develop sampler books of our works. I've also been able to work with Albedo One to get their magazine out in Kindle and ePub versions too. The reach to my audience has dramatically improved and I'm getting more positive reviews than I've ever had.

If you are sitting on the fence with self-publishing, I'd suggest the worst that will happen if you do is that no one will read your book or review it, and that's no worse of than where you are right now. Even if you only get bad reviews they help, because readers disagree with reviewers and buy it anyway. Reviewers, if you don't want a book to sell, say nothing.

The other fantastic news this year was that I was asked to become Art Editor with Albedo One magazine, and was able to help the team now led by Robert Neilson and Frank Ludlow to produce issue 44, with some very excellent tales included within. Robert, Frank and the rest of the team have been very supportive of my writing over the years, and it is an honour to join the team in a more senior capacity, after years as a reviewer.

Okay, here are the publications. The following ebooks were released this year:

"The Dream Quest of a Thousand Cats" in The Nightmare Dimension (Amazon Direct Publishing)

The following books I edited and were released this year:

Undead & Unbound with Brian M. Sammons and published by Chaosium

Extreme Planets with David Kernot and Jeff Harris is at the printers but won't be out until 2014, so it doesn't yet make the list.

I had lots of reprints for 2013 most in my ebooks, but of note was "Subtle Invasion" appearing in Best Tales of the Apocalypse edited by D.L. Snell and Bobbie Metevier, which makes this the third time the story has appeared in a "Best of" collection. The other was "The Masked Messenger" with John Goodrich appearing in issue 22 of Lovecraft eZine.

As I said before, I contributed to launching the Australian Horror Writers Sampler 2013 and the Cthulhu Mythos Writers Sampler 2013, both of which have been a great success in promoting all the authors involved. I was also Art Editor for Albedo One #44. I also wrote "The Jermyn Horror" and with Peter Gilham "The Crystal of Chaos" appearing in the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game book, The House of R'lyeh.

2014 will see my short stories in the anthology Extreme Planets, and the magazines Albedo One and Lovecraft eZine, and a chapter in the forthcoming reprint of the classic role-playing game, Horror on the Orient Express. I will also be releasing more Harrison Peel collections starting with Book 3: The Elder Codex.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my writing this year, especially to reviewers who go a long way in making a writer become noticed. Special thanks to David Kernot, who as always has been a great sounding board on my writing.

About David

David Conyers is an Australian science fiction author residing in Adelaide. His fiction has appeared in Jupiter, Book of Dark Wisdom, Midnight Echo, Antipodean SF, and Andromeda Spaceways as well as a dozen anthologies published world wide including ‘best of’ collections.
He is the co-author of the novel The Spiraling Worm with John Sunseri and editor of the horror anthology Cthulhu’s Dark Cults, both published in the United States. David has been a multiple nominee for the Aurealis, Australian Shadows and Ditmar Awards. He won the Australian Horror Writers Association’s Flash Fiction Award in 2007 and was shortlisted for the Aeon Award in the same year.
He recently joined Albedo One, Ireland’s magazine of speculative fiction, as a regular reviewer and is currently editing Cthulhu Unbound 3 with Brian M. Sammons for Permuted Press.